Thirteen Bears youngsters were in dual-reg, loan or university action over the weekend, with a man of the match performance from an Academy prop in National League One.
English National League One
Dings Crusaders 36-44 Rams
U20 World Championship winning prop, Jimmy Halliwell, scored and was named Dings Crusaders’ player of the match as they were narrowly defeated 44-36 by table toppers, Rams.
Alongside fellow front rowers Louie Trevett and Tomas Gwilliam as well as Harry Rowson, Jack Bates, Joe Owen, Paddy Pearce and Kofi Cripps, Halliwell’s men took the lead with an early penalty through Tom Knight.
The visitors battled back as Dan Swain crossed the whitewash, but Dings quickly replied as flanker, Cripps, finished off a driving maul for the home side.
Throughout the entirety of the game Rams attack in the midfield was ferocious, but midway through the first half it was broken by Sol Taufa who moved the ball to Rowson to score his first try of the afternoon.
On the brink of half time, after Rams had scored two more tries of their own, Rowson was in again for his second as the Crusaders back line moved the ball quickly to him on the wing, giving him the space to crash over.
The half time score at Shaftesbury Park was 24-28 as back rower Aaron Tull was introduced.
Numerous Dings penalties in the beginning of the first half gave their opposition countless opportunities to pressurise their try line, eventually resulting in a score for Robbie Stapley who grounded the ball in Rams colours for a record 102nd time.
Soon after, replacement prop Brian Ncube was shown a yellow card for the home side, but they were resilient to the Rams attack.
In fact, during Ncube’s period in the sin bin, Halliwell crossed the line earning Dings a losing bonus point.
After Rams extended their lead further, with a try scored by Axel Kalling-Smith, the Crusaders managed to reply again as Ncube redeemed himself by crossing the paint.
Ncube’s try gave his side a glimpse of a losing bonus point but for a last minute penalty, kicked by Fraser Honey, which took the score to 44-36.
The fixtures do not get easier for the Crusaders as they travel to Rotherham Titans next time out.
GKIPA Championship
Doncaster Knights 14-30 Nottingham
Andrew Turner’s Doncaster Knights slipped to defeat at the hands of Nottingham at Castle Park on Saturday.
The Bears loosehead featured off the bench for the Yorkshiremen, who fell behind early on from a driving lineout.
The visitors extended their lead shortly with a penalty before Morgan Strong powered over for the Knight opening score.
Olowofela scored under the posts to edge the hosts in front, but Nottingham’s Harry Graham intercepted and ran the whole length of the pitch to restore his side’s advantage.
Following the intercept, Doncaster struggled to get their momentum back and Nottingham scored two more tries and a penalty to seal victory.
English National League Two West
Hornets 64-42 Hinckley
Sam Scott was on the scoresheet for Hornets as they pulled off a remarkable comeback, from 28-0 down, to defeat Hinckley 64-42 at the Nest.
The away side raced into an early lead and after just 29 minutes were 28-0 up against Hornets and it got worse for the hosts as fly half Jamie Elswood was shown a yellow card for an accumulation of penalties.
However, with 14 men Hornets were able to put a number of phases together creating a number of dangerous looking attacks and in the 32nd minute speedy winger Josh Sheppard crossed the line.
Only a couple of minutes later, the home side were on the attack again after winning the ball in the middle of the park before moving it to Sheppard who made no mistake in scoring his second of the afternoon.
On the stroke of half time, Hornets were in again to score; this time Charlie Carter managed to capitalise on a Hinckley error at lineout to crash over, closing the deficit even more.
Once Carter had converted his own try, in addition to Sheppard’s brace, the half time score was 28-21 and it seemed the Weston side could pull off a miraculous comeback.
In the first 26 minutes of the second half, Hornets scored 43 unanswered points.
Tries for Scott, Callum Lane, Jake Caulfield, Jack Parkinson, Carter, Connor Vickery and Ayden Chenoweth took the overall score to 64-28 with just over 10 minutes of rugby remaining.
Despite a couple of late Hinckley scores, the hosts were comfortably able to hold on, winning their first game of the season.
Next up, Hornets travel to Cambourne.
BUCS Super Rugby (Wednesday, September 25)
Exeter University 41-31 Loughborough University
Loughborough duo Jacob Cusick and Ed Harvey impressed for the university side, despite slipping to a 41-31 defeat away at Exeter.
The home side took an early eight-point lead as Tom Gulley crashed over from close range and Ben Coen smashed a penalty kick from 45 metres out, however, Loughborough closed the deficit quickly thanks to a driving maul try finished off by Joe Plunkett.
Midway through the first half Exeter were able to extend their lead, back row pair Lucas Dorrell and Lucas Brooke both finished well under pressure, with both players carrying over after numerous phases close to the opposition line.
The African Violet replied on the stroke of half time thanks to an Elliot Gourlay brace which made the score 22-19 at the interval.
The hosts starting the second half similarly to the first with tighthead prop, T Gulley, crossing the whitewash from close range for the second time of the match.
Debutant, Isaac Godfrey, added another for Exeter moments later, after receiving a short pass from Josh MacAndrew to make the score 34-19.
Shortly after, Loughborough responded through Harvey, the Bristolian back rower received the ball from Dan Eckersley before crashing over for his first BUCS Super Rugby try.
With 10 minutes to go, Eckersley won a crucial turnover penalty just 11 metres from the Exeter try line; while the hosts waited for a kick to the corner, Eckersley went quickly catching his opponents defence off guard before dotting down, making the score 34-31 late in the game.
Exeter took the spoils in the last play as Louie Gulley scored from the back of a driving maul to take the score to 41-31.
Loughborough host the University of Bath next time out on Wednesday, 02 October 2024.
